The Janitors' Closettag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-780922664427579002018-12-18T14:32:39-07:00Thoughts and commentary about the janitorial and office cleaning business.TypePadToo little water pressure, or too muchtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3a8375c200d2018-12-18T14:32:39-07:002018-12-18T14:32:39-07:00Around the end of November, I commented on an outbreak of Legionnaires disease among patients in a hospital; the place had been conserving water by lowering water pressure, and hence velocity, during low use periods, leading to growth of the bacteria. Now comes an article in the Atlantic noting that the bacteria likely inhabiting your shower head (and the rest of your water system), generally pretty good at cementing themselves in place, can be knocked lose by too fast a water flow. They are not generally a problem for folks with robust immune systems, but if inhaled, can cause pneumonia,...Bob

Around the end of November, I commented on an outbreak of Legionnaires disease among patients in a hospital; the place had been conserving water by lowering water pressure, and hence velocity, during low use periods, leading to growth of the bacteria.

Now comes an article in the Atlantic noting that the bacteria likely inhabiting your shower head (and the rest of your water system), generally pretty good at cementing themselves in place, can be knocked lose by too fast a water flow. They are not generally a problem for folks with robust immune systems, but if inhaled, can cause pneumonia, and other bad things, among an already at-risk population.

In cleaning commercial facilities, we're not responsible for a lot of showers, and never for the inhabitants of the pipes. Thank goodness.

Some days, you can't win.

Space travelerstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad37ee1fc200c2018-12-03T15:37:23-07:002018-12-03T15:41:46-07:00One of the issues NASA has encountered in disinfecting its cleanrooms, and therefore in not sending earthly pathogens into space, is that some critters thrive by eating cleaning products. In addition to ethanol (which some bacteria utilize as their main fuel), "The team found hints that Acinetobacter might also be able to grow on isopropyl alcohol, the main chemical used to wipe clean-room surfaces, and Kleenol 30, the detergent used to scrub the rooms’ floors. Even if they can’t use these substances as energy sources, they can certainly break them down. They can even withstand treatment with hydrogen peroxide, the...Bob

One of the issues NASA has encountered in disinfecting its cleanrooms, and therefore in not sending earthly pathogens into space, is that some critters thrive by eating cleaning products. In addition to ethanol (which some bacteria utilize as their main fuel),

"The team found hints that Acinetobacter might also be able to grow on isopropyl alcohol, the main chemical used to wipe clean-room surfaces, and Kleenol 30, the detergent used to scrub the rooms’ floors. Even if they can’t use these substances as energy sources, they can certainly break them down. They can even withstand treatment with hydrogen peroxide, the chemical used in bleaches, detergents, and disinfectants."

This resonates with a recent article I noticed detailing the level of organisms present in treated municipal water supplies, and the colonies that tend to build up in one's shower head. As you might imagine, when you chlorinate or otherwise treat water, most of its inhabitants die off; only the strong survive (one is reminded of Nietzsche). So, only a few (but resilient) types are left. Generally, with many forms competing with one another, none will be present in large numbers; it's the large numbers of a particular pathogen that tends to be dangerous. With only a few pathogens present, they tend to be in larger numbers, and thus more dangerous.

Getting Legionnaires disease at the hospitaltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3a43d03200d2018-11-30T16:04:30-07:002018-11-30T16:04:30-07:00Here's a cautionary tale, from the Lacrosse Tribune. Four patients (thus far) have been readmitted due to contacting legionnaires disease while hospitalized for other complaints. Legionnaires is commonly available in water, once you look; it tends to not be an issue at the usual low concentrations, and to those not already compromised, by another condition or by age, but can be fatal once it gets hold of you (that is, your lungs- it gives you pneumonia). The bacteria tend to proliferate in stagnant water. The hospital's mistake? Apparently reducing water flow through the hospital's system, in times of low use...Bob

Four patients (thus far) have been readmitted due to contacting legionnaires disease while hospitalized for other complaints. Legionnaires is commonly available in water, once you look; it tends to not be an issue at the usual low concentrations, and to those not already compromised, by another condition or by age, but can be fatal once it gets hold of you (that is, your lungs- it gives you pneumonia). The bacteria tend to proliferate in stagnant water.

The hospital's mistake? Apparently reducing water flow through the hospital's system, in times of low use - what one might think a commendable idea, for both financial and ecological reasons.

Rather need to keep up with stuff like this; we get the occasional commercial janitorial client asking for input about low water (or no water) restroom fixtures, hot air hand dryers, room deodorizers, and so on. All have issues, it turns out.

As Frederic Hayek noted, there are few solutions - only trade-offs.

So don't take you phone to the restroomtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3c1621d200b2018-11-20T17:07:37-07:002018-11-20T17:07:37-07:00"Germs are literally everywhere in the bathroom and surrounding surfaces and will get onto your hands thereby making the risk of phone contamination even greater. Just visualize, you put your contaminated phone close to your mouth when you make a call, or you touch your phone screen then reach up to rub your eye." The above from an article in All About Arizona News, which happens to cover the phoenix area where we provide commercial janitorial service. Interviewed for the article was our old friend, Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist just down the road at the University of Arizona. An...Bob

"Germs are literally everywhere in the bathroom and surrounding surfaces and will get onto your hands thereby making the risk of phone contamination even greater. Just visualize, you put your contaminated phone close to your mouth when you make a call, or you touch your phone screen then reach up to rub your eye."

The above from an article in All About Arizona News, which happens to cover the phoenix area where we provide commercial janitorial service. Interviewed for the article was our old friend, Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist just down the road at the University of Arizona. An even more illustrative comment, again from the article:

“When you flush the toilet, water with feces and urine sprays about six feet in every direction.”

So, even though it is socially unacceptable to ignore incoming calls and texts, leave the darn phone outside.

Sunlight, the best disinfectant. tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3bba457200b2018-10-26T16:34:57-07:002018-10-26T16:34:57-07:00According to a study reported by our friends at CMM, sunlight saps the viability of bacteria in household dust, cutting their reproduction success from 12% to 6.1%. A substantial improvement (for us), but much less than perfect. But note - the article mentions that removal of dust might be the better solution, suggesting vacuuming, dusting with microfiber cloths, and so on. It suggests a backpack vacuum, and a paper bag (not just a cloth bag) so as to catch particles down to about a micron in diameter. Good advice as far as it goes, but a HEPA filter would be...Bob

According to a study reported by our friends at CMM, sunlight saps the viability of bacteria in household dust, cutting their reproduction success from 12% to 6.1%. A substantial improvement (for us), but much less than perfect.

But note - the article mentions that removal of dust might be the better solution, suggesting vacuuming, dusting with microfiber cloths, and so on. It suggests a backpack vacuum, and a paper bag (not just a cloth bag) so as to catch particles down to about a micron in diameter. Good advice as far as it goes, but a HEPA filter would be much the better choice, stopping particles down to about 0.3 microns. All stuff we've done for years. One might note, in passing, that a decent commercial backpack vacuum costs in the neighborhood of $450.00, and a HEPA filter not much over $10.00, so those folks who use a backpack without HEPA filtration seem a bit penny wise and pound foolish.

We also do a bit of monitoring of indoor air quality for our janitorial clients. We use a laser-based "hand held particle counter", that set me back as much as a used car (or at least the kind of used car I could afford back when I could only afford used cars). It gives me read-outs on the number of particles per liter of air, in 6 different size categories. We find, in a fairly tightly sealed building, we can cut daytime airborne particle count about in half, in the size range of most allergens, about what one sees in the national level tests of how one can tweak janitorial service (HEPA filters, etc.) and the resultant IAQ changes. Useful to be able to quantify what one does.

But, to get back to the original point: just like in politics, sunlight is a good disinfectant.

Straight from the Congo, here's Ebolatag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad39b4395200d2018-10-23T15:56:05-07:002018-10-23T15:56:05-07:00In recent weeks, we've seen an outbreak of Ebola in the Congo; civil war and general lawlessness has made combating the outbreak quite difficult for authorities. Here's some thoughts I sent out several years back, during the heavily publicized outbreak in West Africa. Given a more and more connected world, you never know what might turn up on our doorstep. And, in passing, OSHA has recently updated its guidelines, here's a copy. While I certainly do not expect to deal with suspected Ebola cases, or locations containing the pathogen, I've used the crisis as a conversation starter among my staff...Bob

In recent weeks, we've seen an outbreak of Ebola in the Congo; civil war and general lawlessness has made combating the outbreak quite difficult for authorities. Here's some thoughts I sent out several years back, during the heavily publicized outbreak in West Africa. Given a more and more connected world, you never know what might turn up on our doorstep. And, in passing, OSHA has recently updated its guidelines, here's a copy.

While I certainly do not expect to deal with suspected Ebola cases, or locations containing the pathogen, I've used the crisis as a conversation starter among my staff and outside advisers, in upgrading our capabilities to respond to biologically threatening situations.

We've fleshed out procedure sheets, stocked surgical masks, and have full bunny suits on order. I'm guessing that such material will be easier to get (and at a reasonable price) now that it will be should we have a panic. (That is, do not wait until the day before the hurricane hits to try to buy a diesel generator...).

One factor I've not seen commentary on. Should Ebola continue to expand in Africa, pressure on folks to flee the countries involved, or the entire continent, will increase. We might be seeing folks arriving here in numbers, at about the time flu season hits. And the early symptoms of ordinary flu, and Ebola, are similar. We could have panicked over-reaction, and need protective gear and procedures, anywhere flu hits.

In passing, we seem to be repeating mistakes made by the Wilson administration during the 1918 flu pandemic: not moving aggressively enough and early enough (they spent months shipping troops around the country, and to Europe), and talking reassuringly to the public - so that when folks began dying in numbers, no one believed the authorities' pronouncements.

At any rate, we're getting some neat masks and body suits in our supply area.

Use a toweltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3baa5ad200b2018-10-22T16:50:03-07:002018-10-22T16:57:56-07:00Another little wrinkle on proper hand washing: we ought prefer paper towels to forced air dryers not simply because the air dryers blow pathogens all over heck and gone, to be inhaled by yourself and anyone else handy (no, that was not intended as a pun). The article puts it well: Hand dryers, however, while seemingly quicker and more convenient, literally suck up all of that restroom bacteria and blow it around the restroom and onto one’s just-washed hands—leaving them just as dirty, or even dirtier, than before they were washed. But further, irt seems that the bit of abrasion...Bob

Another little wrinkle on proper hand washing: we ought prefer paper towels to forced air dryers not simply because the air dryers blow pathogens all over heck and gone, to be inhaled by yourself and anyone else handy (no, that was not intended as a pun).

The article puts it well: Hand dryers, however, while seemingly quicker and more convenient, literally suck up all of that restroom bacteria and blow it around the restroom and onto one’s just-washed hands—leaving them just as dirty, or even dirtier, than before they were washed.

But further, irt seems that the bit of abrasion of one's hands caused by rubbing the paper towel over them also removes pathogens. This from Peter Setlow, a microbiologist at The University of Connecticut School of Medicine, via jour good friends at Cleaning and Maintenance Magazine.

Go figure. Another reason I suggest (politely) to my commercial janitorial clients that they ought forgo the high tech air dryers.

And no, it is not true the if you wash your hands as often as I post on the matter, you will wrinkle them (to glance back at the top of the post).

How to wash your handstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3b93167200b2018-10-16T10:42:44-07:002018-10-16T10:42:44-07:00I've posted several times over the years about the benefits of handwashing. We encourage it among our commercial janitors, in conjunction with latex gloves and a pathogen defeating hand lotion. But this is the first I've seen of how to do it properly (you thought it was simple?) 1) Wet your hands under running water (standing water in the basin could be contaminated), and add soap 2) Lather by rubbing your hands, all over (helps lift dirt and pathogens) 3) Scrub for 20 seconds or so (best guess - not much in the way of studies seem available) to remove...Bob

I've posted several times over the years about the benefits of handwashing. We encourage it among our commercial janitors, in conjunction with latex gloves and a pathogen defeating hand lotion. But this is the first I've seen of how to do it properly (you thought it was simple?)

1) Wet your hands under running water (standing water in the basin could be contaminated), and add soap

2) Lather by rubbing your hands, all over (helps lift dirt and pathogens)

3) Scrub for 20 seconds or so (best guess - not much in the way of studies seem available) to remove microbes

4) Rinse under running water (to wash away the pathogens that soap and scrubbing have lifted)

Dirty handstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3b268be200b2018-09-21T10:44:00-07:002018-09-21T10:44:00-07:00Here's another study on restroom surface sanitation reflecting differences in restrooms supplying paper hand towels to their users as opposed to restrooms using jet air dryers; the conclusion: "Multiple examples of significant differences in surface bacterial contamination, including by fecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, were observed, with higher levels in JAD versus PT washrooms. Hand-drying method affects the risk of (airborne) dissemination of bacteria in real-world settings." Three European hospitals were tested over a 12 week period, so a good many people, and germs, were involved. As I understand it, the difference comes from critters still present on hands after washing...Bob

Here's another study on restroom surface sanitation reflecting differences in restrooms supplying paper hand towels to their users as opposed to restrooms using jet air dryers; the conclusion:

"Multiple examples of significant differences in surface bacterial contamination, including by fecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, were observed, with higher levels in JAD versus PT washrooms. Hand-drying method affects the risk of (airborne) dissemination of bacteria in real-world settings."

Three European hospitals were tested over a 12 week period, so a good many people, and germs, were involved.

As I understand it, the difference comes from critters still present on hands after washing (and, when you look at how quickly and inefficiently many folks wash, you understand the danger). A germ in the hand (as it were) may transfer to the hand towel, or stay on the hand, when a towel is used. The same germ, aided by a forced (or "jet") air dryer, blows off, and settles most everywhere (or finds itself inhaled). The more powerful the dryer, the further the germ travels. I've seen studies that suggest 40 feet of travel is not uncommon.

The upside of air hand dyers is that, as commercial janitors, we don't have to remember to fill the towel dispenser, or empty as much trash.

Polluted air and Alzheimer'stag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a01157080a514970c022ad3b23b44200b2018-09-19T14:16:41-07:002018-09-19T14:19:02-07:00Provocative study by researchers just down the road at Arizona State University, proposing a link between Polluted air and Alzheimer's disease. Some 7 million American adults' health records were perused; the connection drawn is between fine particulate matter in residential air and an accumulation of such particles in the brain, causing inflammation, which is in turn associated with dementia. The article, in All About Arizona News, gives little information on how pollution levels were measured and then correlated with an individual's health records; it mentions studies showing some health impact to folks living near busy highways, so one assumes the...Bob

Provocative study by researchers just down the road at Arizona State University, proposing a link between Polluted air and Alzheimer's disease.

Some 7 million American adults' health records were perused; the connection drawn is between fine particulate matter in residential air and an accumulation of such particles in the brain, causing inflammation, which is in turn associated with dementia. The article, in All About Arizona News, gives little information on how pollution levels were measured and then correlated with an individual's health records; it mentions studies showing some health impact to folks living near busy highways, so one assumes the link is to something in auto exhaust. Or maybe not.

The study authors haven't come up with a biological explanation of how the particles get into the brain.

All in all, questions raised, but something to look at.

Nobody seems to look at polluted air in the workplace, and we sometimes spend almost as much time there as at home (it certainly seems that way over here). That's why we try to do our part improving indoor air quality for our janitorial clients, via HEPA vacuum filtration, microfiber technology, and so on. And, we measure what we do (see the nearby picture). More is available on the Health page of our website.